The game is a sequel to Dishonored and it has a similar kind of setting recover your throne from outworldy forces and to take out the co-conspirators one by one.
The story takes place 15 years after the first game Emily is now the empress and she still is trying to adjust to her new role as empress of Dunwall until during the anniversary of her death where a coup is staged and she is dethroned and is currently either her or Corvo on the run.
The game takes place in Serkonos and the world is more tropical compared to the industrial setting of Dunwall. The new setting is inspired by southern European countries like Greece,Italy and Spain along with the way the characters dress and architecture the new setting has. The world feels very life like and citizens are in the streets carrying out tasks such as repairs. And each npc reacts differently depending on your actions as what might bring more or less chaos will affect relationships with your small group of allies.
The graphics are great it uses a new engine based off the ID TECH 5 engine and it still looks like the first game but improved.
It still has its steampunk setting and technology has gotten better and the world is familiar to those who are returning to the game.
The chaos system an important part of the game is back and now Emily and Corvo are their own characters and they have their own unique thoughts while interacting with the world around them. Chaos still affects the story either a more bleaker pessimistic ending or a more optimistic hopeful ending. If you killed more or less people for either chaos and you can still beat the game without killing anybody. And finding ways for your targets to befall into poetic justice through accidents. And once again the more enemies or citizens you kill the more enemies will appear. And your allies will be weary around you as the world around them falls in chaos because of your actions.
Your choices in the game can be played out in anyway that you like and each choice will have an effect on the main story. You can reduce your chaos meter like in the first game such as saving a civilian from being executed or helping out someone who can actually help you reclaim your throne.
Emily and Corvo both have their own abilities to expirament,combine and ways to take enemies out. They both have a lethal or non lethal upgrade path.
Corvo's abilities have been deepened with more choices to choose from. Emily's abilities are related towards her darker character and each character is adaptable to any playstyle you can choose.
The stealth in the game is a lot more challenging than the first game. You can customize the gameplay settings in the options menu on how enemies can react and how aware they are. Making it more easier or more harder in the game.
The A.I in the game is highly smart they are highly aware of the world around and can notice if something is not right. They are now able to notice you if hide in a certain area like behind cover for a long period of time and they will detect you which adds to the challenge of the game and they are not in set paths so you have to find different routes in order to avoid them.
You can customize their awareness and how they behave in the world as well making it much more interesting to see the different ways you can experiment in the game.
They also have different personalities now so if you kill a sympathetic or guilty person it can either give you more chaos or less chaos when you use the heart on them to find out their secrets.
Each mission has its own theme either mechanic or fiction as part of the overarching story in the game and each of it has its own creative design like one mission you can travel back in time and change the past and whatever is done in the past is affected in the future. And one mission where you enter a mansion to take out your target and mansion changes and revolves around you however you interact with the place. I really like the unique creative designs they have but the overarching story still just as predictable as the last game and it wasn’t really focused and should have been more cohesive to make the individual narratives more connected.
As the game is more challenging now you're going to have to find resources to survive and go to blackmarkets in the area to buy stuff as in the game you are on your own with little help. Depending on the difficulty as well resources can be very scarce.
The combat in the game is improved from the last one and with new ways to play you have even more variety to take out enemies. Corvo and Emily both have unique kill cams with their own violent ways of killing targets up close and personal. The game brings back its original gadgets from the first game and with various upgrade paths there is no right or wrong for you to choose which upgrade tree you would like to have in the game.
The game has new enemies such as the Clockwork soldiers that are blind but they use their other senses to find you and try to take you out. They are mechanical soldiers and they can hear you easily if you make any noise.
The complete freedom to complete objectives how you like and explore the world is back. There are brand new ways to explore the environment and you can still create your own strategies on how you are going to complete objectives and take out enemies. It has a lot more verticality now and you can explore the game with anyway you want. There is also an optional no magic mode where all of your void powers are not useable in the game which adds to more challenge and encourages you to find ways without having to use powers.
The game has a lot of replayable value just like the first game where you can explore and find new ways to take out targets and to find collectibles that you might have missed. Like finding runes to unlock points to purchase abilities and upgrade your void magic. Or find treasure that is worth lots of coins and additional supplies like ammo in case you need it.
The characters are now fully voiced and have their own thoughts now as I mentioned earlier. Depending on the chaos level Emily and Corvo become more villainous or with less chaos even though they are not saints they are more determined to help the people of Dunwall and Serkonos by stopping a corrupt group of people. I like both Emily and Corvo's voice acting it gave them personality yet still retaining their mysterious and deadly nature. It adds more emotional depth to the characters and each interaction with your allies and npcs are unique depending on which character you play as.
The amoral nature is still there and the outsider is back to remark on your progress and the actions that you make. Your allies will be more helpful and supportive or more reluctant and wary if your chaos is very high.
I didn’t encounter any technical problems or glitches in the game personally as it was the latest version and it ran smoothly the whole time.
I like this game a lot just as much as the first game.
It gets 5 stars.
Its an improvement from the first game and it’s a challenging game. If you enjoy Dishonored and you like steampunk and fantasy check this great game out.